CL: Juventus have a slim chance of beating Barcelona, says Buffon

Juventus goalkeeper talks down his team’s chances of defeating Spanish giants in Saturday’s final

Turin: Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes that his side stand only a slim chance of defeating Spanish heavyweights Barcelona when the two sides meet in the Champions League final on Saturday.

Juventus’ goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Pic/Getty Images

The 37-year-old veteran admitted he had a lot of respect for the Catalan giants, who won the Copa del Rey title on Saturday, in addition to the La Liga.

Juve’s weapons“Against Real Madrid, we might have had a 35% chance of making it past them. So I guess the chances of now winning the trophy against this Barcelona side are even slimmer,” he told UEFA.com in an interview yesterday.

“We are aware of this and we can’t deny it — because it’s just obvious. So we certainly have an abundance of respect for the Barcelona squad, for what they have achieved and for the players they have.

“But like I said about Real, we have a few weapons to compete and ways to try to make things difficult for them. So we will play based on that,” he added.

Personal goalHaving never won the coveted Champions League title, the veteran goalkeeper said he had made it a personal goal.“For me personally, this is a big goal. It’s a big goal because my career has been a long one — and obviously during all those years there have been a lot of complicated and difficult decisions to take.

“I took those decisions based on my feelings and based on my way of life. “And I have to say that after nine or ten years — some of which have been really difficult — to come here again and make it with the whole team, the whole staff, the whole club and all our fans, that is just something great and something really rewarding,” he said.

The Italian also revealed that he was overjoyed after his side overcame defending champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals.Rewarding win Real were overwhelming favourites to beat Juventus before the first leg.

“I just felt a great happiness that I have only really experienced a few times, because when you are not the favourites or the stronger team and you still make it through to the next round, that is something very rewarding,” he said.